Benji Marshall admitted he was a bag of nerves before his St George Illawarra debut against Parramatta and vowed to help improve the Dragons after Saturday’s 36-0 humbling by the Eels.

The return of Marshall saw the sold out signs put up Parramatta Stadium for the first time in more than two years, but the 29-year-old was powerless to prevent the joint-venture’s biggest ever loss to the Eels.

The last time Marshall played in the NRL was for the Wests Tigers in their 50-22 defeat to North Queensland last September in Townsville and he conceded it was a tough baptism against a rejuvenated Eels side.

“I felt a bit of pressure out there and probably put too much pressure on myself to try to do something every touch,” Marshall said.

“There’s a lot to work on. I thought defensively I was pretty solid, but a few of the options I took probably need looking at.

“I was nervous. I was probably more keen than anything to get out there because I was trying to be the creator and make things happen.”

Marshall only got the chance to train with halves partner Gareth Widdop once in the lead up to the game and he said once the pair start to strike up a decent partnership the team will start to benefit.

However, he said he was bitterly disappointed to be on the back of such a heavy loss.

“Gaz didn’t train the first two days of the week so we didn’t get a lot of time to put combinations together,” he said.

“Yesterday was the first time we trained together. There’s definitely a lot of promise there and we probably need to re-group with the bye.

“It’s probably come at a good time to have the break.”